OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Effective Development Communications Unit
Bohol enters into a new collaboration with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Asian Development Bank, and the Government of Canada for JobStart Philippines.
Gov. Edgar Chatto is set to sign the agreement for the partnership with DOLE, ADB and the Canadian Government on March 4 at the HEAT IT Bohol caravan in Bilar.
A first in the country for a province, JobStartPH, a partnership initiative seeks to assist young Filipinos who wish to join the labor force by providing opportunities to not only improve their technical skills but also develop life skills required to succeed in the workplace.
JobStartPH also aims to strengthen guidance services, labor market information, and job search assistance for employment officers.
The program, which will be implemented through the Bohol Employment and Placement Office (BEPO) under the Office of the Governor, will accommodate out of school youth aged 18-24 who have finished high school but are not unemployed and have had a year or less work experience.
BEPO will facilitate the pre-qualification and registration of Boholano youth and select beneficiaries, which job-readiness will be assessed and provided life skills training, career guidance, and labor market information.
BEPO will then match the trained youth to available internships and provide referrals, after which the youth will train under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to acquire the necessary skills for the internship with the employers.
Chatto in his State of the Province Address (SOPA), had expressed enthusiasm to embark on the new partnership project which will not only strengthen BEPO employment capabilities but more importantly cater to the needs of the out of school youth (OSY) in the province.
The governor welcomed the initiative as Bohol launched last year the nationwide Abot-Alam program, also an inter-agency convergence effort to locate OSYs and enroll them in program interventions in education, entrepreneurship, and employment.
“JobStartPH is a very welcome intervention for a portion of the out of school youth that we have accounted for and mapped out under the Abot Alam program”, he said.
JobStartPH has only been piloted in the four institutionalized Public Employment Service Offices in Quezon City, San Fernando in Pampanga, Taguig City, and General Trias in Cavite. (Leah/EDCOM)